Ramblings of a Weekend Warrior

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The Bailout: Slouching towards Socialism

It appears that even the US Congress will pass legislation that will all the US Government to take our tax dollars and give them to large corporations to prevent the large corporations from paying the price for making poor business decisions. Now that I see all of the politicians falling in line, I am really afraid. When they all agree on something, it can mean no good for us. This means that everyone is running for cover and afraid to take a stand. This is a power and money grab that is beyond comprehension and I have yet to see the enumerated power that allows the federal government to do this. I received an email from the National Taxpayers Union that has grave concerns about this bailout:

This unconscionable scheme forces the vast majority of taxpayers who were honest and prudent to bail out firms on Wall Street that made bad business decisions. Furthermore, it does nothing to address the root causes of today’s market difficulties. The long-term effects of this fiasco, including inflation, a weaker dollar, and an even more precarious federal balance sheet, are almost certain to outweigh the shallow short-term stabilization of moneyed interests who have been twisting arms on both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue.

I think you will find a lot of politicians on both sides of the aisle that are receiving large campaign contributions from many of the companies involved in this. The Democrats are trying to say this is the result of deregulation, but the truth is that this is the result of over-regulation.

Congress helped to create this debacle with the Community Reinvestment Act, poor tax policies, hastily designed mark-to-market regulations, and spectacular negligence with regard to the systemic risks posed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Rather than addressing those core problems, this disgraceful plan instead snatches $700 billion from the pockets of hard-working Americans, the vast majority of whom had no part in this horrific play.

There are even people involved in this who say the taxpayer’s will “make money” on this deal. Ha! The government might turn a profit on the deal, but anyone who thinks that the taxpayer’s will see any of that profit has no recollection of history.

I intend to call my members of congress today to let them know that I think this is a bad idea, fully expecting to be politely told I am an idiot.

UPDATE:
Further evidence this legislation should not pass.

The legislation also requires that the government take ownership stakes in companies that receive federal infusions, so it could share a piece of potential future profits.